AMD prepares for a major ramp up this year leading all the way through to 2008

AMD's position as a force to be reckoned is no longer under question. The company has invested significantly over the last several years and made very good bets on its strategy that are now bringing fruits to the effort that was put in.

We previously reported earlier in the year that AMD was putting in a rough sum of $500M USD to upgrade Fab 36 in Germany. The money was laid out to upgrade the facility to produce larger wafers with smaller lithography processes. Since then, Fab 36 has been operating at a good pace and is now producing a good amount of revenue.

Despite the initial investment, competition often sparks innovation, and innovation doesn't stand still. According to German reports (english), AMD is in the process of rounding up another $5.8B USD which is to be spent gradually up to 2008. The company is using the money to further invest into its Dresden location. If this plan goes through successfully, AMD would have made one of its largest ever expansions in its history -- or for that matter, any semiconductor company.

The money is initially slated for Fab 36 and Fab 30 in Dresden, but the German report indicates much of the earmarked money will also go towards a third AMD foundry in the Dresden area, with work beginning this summer. Some of the funds will also be used for employee salaries at the new and upgraded facilities.

The year so far has been exciting, with many announcements from both sides of the camp. Thanks to first impressions of Intel's upcoming Conroe processor, many analysts are now looking at AMD with a great deal of anticipation to see what the company will come out with next, specifically the K8L architecture. AMD is currently on track in terms of timely product releases and expects to deliver quad-core desktop solutions in early 2007. The company recently broke its own 3GHz barrier with its Opteron family.

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